red sky at morning
by mayh3m
Summary: Did someone say Cruise Ship Murder Mystery? Milah is the Sherlock, and Emma and Regina are trying to help her while also yelling a lot at each other. Among other things. There's also the Real Housewives: Storybrooke edition, with lies, scandals and a lot of intrigue.
1. Chapter 1

"Man Overboard!" the unmistakable yell rings out, "Man Overboard Starboard side!" and the ship's engines obligingly slow down as all the passengers make their way out to the deck. Humans have a marked tendency for voyeurism in face of disaster, especially obvious in the kind of crowd that can afford a cabin aboard the Jolly Roger. The spotter, Leroy, is still pointing in the direction of whoever has fallen overboard, and the passengers gather near the railing, looking for a bobbing head. As Emma watches, almost every single one of the passengers makes their way out of their rooms in the hot tropical sun, drawn to the hubbub with promise of a spectacle. She exchanges a glance with Red, who is already mouthing, "Four… three… two,"- and Milah's imperious figure detaches itself from the throng right on, "...one", beckoning furiously.

"It's Killian," she says as soon as they are within earshot, "Get these people out of here." She strides away to where a knot of the crew has gathered near the lifeboats. Emma can see the lifebuoy being tossed, Will removing the cover of the lifeboat, and then Smee crouching and grabbing for a vest as he is lowered with it.

"She didn't even say goodbye," Red fake pouts, pulling her to where the crowd is the thickest and raising her voice. "Back to your rooms, folks, the captain is declaring a state of emergency." Emma eyes the crowd dubiously to see if they'll fall for it, but Red's demeanor, in addition to their uniforms, seems to do the trick, the murmurs slowly start to fade and the crowd starts moving. Closest to them is Ursula, who is practically dragging her wife (Kira? Kyra? Cru? Something.) below deck, both of them whispering furiously. The Locksleys are next to leave the deck, the cute kid being distracted by the mom. The dad follows closely, still looking vaguely green at the gills, and being supported by Regina Mills' sister. None of the others seem to want to leave.

Red drags her over to the group Red refers to as the Real Housewives. Or in the much more poetic, eloquent words of Paige, the _bitchsquad_. It's not possible to be in their proximity and remain ignorant about the exact nature of gossip about them: there's Kathryn Nolan who is David's ex wife who has kept his name, who's here with her boyfriend Fred. Mary Margaret Blanchard, David's _current_ wife who didn't take his name. Rory's the one who has murmurs of _lesbian affairs_ surrounding her, but she's married to Philip. And yet the rumours persist. Then there's Ella, who's the mildest of the lot with the teen pregnancy, and her husband Tommy who 'did the honorable thing and stepped up'. The other passengers on the cruise mainly stick to their own, smaller groups, but this party of eight is celebrating the ten year anniversary of the Nolan-Blanchard wedding. And they're determined to do so by this fairytale-themed shindig where Mary Margaret plans on dressing like Snow White. They're a customer service nightmare.

As the duo draws closer to them, Ella walks over and grabs Red. "How frightful. Can you tell us who fell? Was it one of the passengers?" Kathryn joins her immediately, but Mary Margaret is leaning over the railing, trying to spot the man, Rory by her side. Red starts giving them the "We're not at liberty to give out any information," line so Emma walks over to the other two. She can spot the lifeboat being driven over and away, and she can just make out the buoy. "I'm sorry, ma'am but the Captain has asked all the passengers to return to their rooms." Rory startles back, and when Mary Margaret seems not to hear her, Rory tugs at her elbow. She comes to herself, then, blinks rapidly and looks at Emma, "Yes?"

Emma repeats her line, and they nod, joining the rest of the women who're looking a little subdued on the face of their seriousness. They go inside without much ado, and Ruby sighs beside her. "Thank God for small mercies."

Meanwhile the ladies' better halves are trying to go back to their game, the other side of the deck. Cheshire makes eye contact with Milah, his grin visibly dimming, and then starts to shut his poker table down. Emma can see rather than hear the men start to get ruffled, but once David Nolan acquiesces, so do the others, and they go down the ramp at the other end of the ship from where Emma is.

Emma and Red gratefully move on to August, whose shamelessly flirting with Granny. "... the number of times I've been on this cruise with you guys, I should be considered one of you. You know, part of your family." He winks, and then tries to noogie Red as they step close by.

"Is this man bothering you, ma'am?" Emma jokes, and August pretends to look outraged in the background.

"Seriously, though, you need to go inside." Red says.

"Who was it, who fell? Tell me that much."

"We're not allowed to say!"

"Come on. You can even be my favourite granddaughter."

"Just go inside."

"Fine." He slouches away, and Granny heads off to where Lance and Jeff are sitting, one earbud in each ear staring into their laptop. They seem to be the only ones unbothered, even unaware of what has been going on. Red spots the Golds, and heads off to divert them, and the only people Emma can see who aren't already making their way inside, being politely nudged along by some of the crew, are Maleficent and Regina, huddled in a corner as usual. She mentally girds her loins thinking about the next conversation.

"Ah. Ms Swan. Are you here to keep us apprised of the situation?"

"I'm sorry Ms Mills, Ms Dragić, I need you to head inside for now. The captain will be making an official announcement as soon as she is done dealing with, you know, the crisis of having a crew-member fall overboard."

Regina looks almost amused as she repeats, "A crew member?"

"Or passenger. Whichever the individual might be." She's internally cursing herself for the slip, but her face has to give nothing away. She's a consummate professional, goddammit.

Regina raises an eyebrow. "I'm sure you are Ms… Swan, was it? But that doesn't really strike as relevant."

She said that out loud. She resists the urge to pull hair- either her own or Regina Mills'- when Mal cuts in, "Oh let the poor girl do her job," and Emma has never been more angry at being rescued in her life.

"If you would be so kind as to return to your cabins-" she woodenly continues, and Mal takes Regina's arm as they walk off.

The last thing she hears is "When are you going to stop provoking her,-" as they disappear, and Red joins her. The deck is almost cleared save for the crew, who're all converging where the boat will be pulled up. Red is pulling her along, as the winch laboriously raises the boat back up, and she can hear parts of sentences: "... not moving," and, "What an idiot", and, "... steady now, carefully," and, "could've drowned," before they're snatched away by the wind, which seems to be picking up.

The hushed mutters get louder and louder as the boat is pulled back up, and Smee steps down, carrying Hook. The clamour reaches a new high as Milah drops to her knees, feels his pulse, and starts her efforts to resuscitate him. Whale hurries over, and Emma can't hear anything over the sound of blood rushing to her head. Can't see anything except how his features arrange themselves to a somber expression that her brain refuses to process. _Hook falls overboard almost every couple of months showing off- there's nothing to- that- no._ Emma numbly finds herself walking to the circle of people gathered, Red right beside her. Milah is gently pushed aside, and when Whale tries to shift him, Hook's neck twists to an unnatural angle. Whale feels the neck and looks back up to Milah, shakes his head.

Emma feels like her hands are unnaturally heavy, but she manages to move them just in time to catch Red as she loses her balance, as the crew goes entirely quiet, as Whale's words knock air out of her lungs.

"He's dead."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **1\. Thanks sara for being the best beta.**

 **2\. The title comes from the old rhyme sailors used to forecast the weather:**

 **"Red sky at night/Sailors delight**  
 **Red sky at morning/Sailors take warning"**


	2. Chapter 2

"He's dead." Mal whispers, and Zelena drops the phone in her hands, flinches as it thuds against the table.

"What?!"

The passengers are all gathering in slightly-confused clusters on the deck— since the Staff-Captain has requested everyone out for a word. Zelena has been sitting at one of the tables that face the stage, trying to wave Regina over, when Mal appears to deliver the news. Regina realizes she has frozen just a second before Mal says, "Darling, please close your mouth and get over here."

She drops into the seat beside Zelena's and leans forward as Mal adjusts her skirt and repositions herself, then fixes her hair; milking the moment for all it's worth. Around them the tables are starting to fill up, and a buzz starts up. Some of the crew— the performers especially, are standing by the stage, but most others are now engaged in their work.

"Will you get to it, then?" Zelena snaps. That of the two of them, Regina is the patient one will never cease to scare her.

"Hook," Mal says, finally. "Fell overboard, died. They think someone pushed him."

"And you know this, how exactly?"

Mal smirks at Regina, before continuing to whisper. "I overheard the girls. You know, when I was—"

"—stalking?" Zelena cuts in, and Regina can see Mal start to close down.

So she turns to her dear sister, and spits out, "Do you want to hear this or not?" at the exact instant Mal does.

Zelena rolls her eyes. "God, you two. Just stop. I swear I shan't say anything."

Mal pinches the bridge of her nose, sighs, as the two of them turn to her. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, Captain 'Hook'. They think—" The tables around them suddenly quiet down, Mal's whisper is unnaturally loud before she cuts herself off. They all turn their attention to the front, where Milah has taken the stage.

"Most of you have some idea of what happened earlier today. It is with a heavy heart I must inform you that Captain Killian Jones met with a tragic accident, and passed away this afternoon." The shock ripples over the deck in gasps, and Regina thinks she can see two or three handkerchiefs being produced and proffered.

In the crew, she can see the girls huddled together. Tink is crying and Paige and Emma are fussing over her. Tiana, the director, is standing by Red, Mr. Booth standing beside them, their faces more morose than Regina has ever seen. Then Milah takes a wet breath, and her attention snaps ahead.

"I hope you can bear with the crew in these hard times. As the staff captain and second in command, I will be responsible for the cruise from this point onwards, and will endeavour to make sure you can get the experience you came here for. If there are any concerns or issues to be addressed please do come to us. Our entertainment schedule for tomorrow has been suspended, we will try our best to be back on course—

Regina tunes out around this point, looks at the table next to them. Cru is yawning, and Ursula nudging her in silent admonishment. Not everyone is as irreverent— Belle, sitting alone, seems to be in shock. Lance and Jeff are sitting as close to each other as always, but Jeff is holding his face in his hands, as Lance rubs his back. Robin and Marian look weary, more leaning on each other than sitting. Behind them, Regina turns to see Ella silently weeping, the tear tracks the only evidence of it.

"Good riddance," the words follow the steady tap-tap of the cane which signals Mr Gold's entrance, and everyone turns to look as he emerges from the stairs that lead up to the deck. There's a collective drawing in of breath, as the assembly waits to see areaction.

Milah is visibly shaking with rage as she starts, "I know you didn't like Killian, but there's no reason-" but then one of the crew members standing near him lunges for the man, and then is pulled off amidst shouts of "Smee!" which Regina assumes is his name. Two men are now holding him back, and another helps Mr Gold to his feet, who is still sneering. He picks up the red hat that was dropped in the scuffle, and puts it back on him so it covers Smee's eyes. He looks straight at Milah, and says, "You know I'm right," and heads back downstairs.

Milah fumes off the stage, and the passengers remain seated for a few minutes before they realize they don't have to be, and start to disperse.

Zelena turns to Mal eagerly now, "What were you saying?"

"Oh now you're interested?" She acquiesces, though, pitches her voice lower and says, "They think someone pushed him overboard, and Milah wants to find out who it was."

"You mean—"

"She wants to play Sherlock Holmes." Mal rolls her eyes.

"Or some kind of Agatha Christie heroine," Zelena interjects, and Regina smiles.

"We are all potential suspects in an enclosed space. Do you know how our Miss Marple plans on going about this?"

"She doesn't think it could take more than a week. She plans on apprehending the culprit, however long that takes, and handing them off to the authorities on our next stop in Maine. Apparently she has friends there."

"That has got to be illegal," Zelena says.

"And I'm sure nobody knows about illegal acts as well as you," Regina shoots back automatically.

"Girls, please. As it turns out, we were scheduled to be on the high seas for a couple of days yet: it is possible our ship will develop, uh, engine troubles. Or maybe the casino will suddenly have a tournament to compensate for any other avenues of entertainment we end up missing during these… trying times. Something that will hold us here longer than previously anticipated."

"I must say that's certainly bold, if inadvisable," Zelena says, but she's grinning. "Having this lot investigated should be fun. Would you terribly mind if rumours of this emerged among the rest of the passengers?"

"If you ask me," Regina says, "it won't hurt, having the culprit on the defense. Cornered people tend to make mistakes. Easier to catch, when-"

"I had a feeling you would enjoy this far more than you should," Mal interrupts, and Zelena gets up from their table.

"I shall leave you two to it." She winks at Mal, and then looks at Regina to say, "Bye, sis. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," and flounces off.

They get up, then, and Mal takes her arm as they walk inside, passing the DeVils. The chill of the air conditioner is a welcome relief after the humidity and the warm air, and Regina shivers a little.

"So," Mal turns to her. "What do you intend to do?"

"Offer help, of course."

"Of course," Mal smirks.

"She's crew. She needs an in with the passengers if she wants to get anywhere. And where else can I be sure of knowing exactly what is going on?"

Mal shakes her head. "Leave your husband, run away on a cruise, end up entangled in a murder mystery."

Regina raises an eyebrow. "Some of us have all the luck."


	3. Chapter 3

She wakes up early the next morning like every other day, and goes through her morning routine on autopilot. In fact it all seems so normal that Emma is expecting the usual easy flirting when she makes her way to the kitchens to pilfer breakfast before the practice.

She's taking the longer route, the one through the passenger dining that overlooks the pool, when she notices Hook's usual bar stool is empty— weird. Early morning is when he takes his break, so he must be… she physically stumbles, tears suddenly prickling at her eyes, when she remembers, and Tiana's there with her quick feet and kind eyes to lead her to one of the corner tables. Remy puts coffee and a blueberry muffin in front of her before her ass is fully on the chair, and Tiana says, "Sit. Eat." before she rushes to the passengers who're walking inside.

She supposes she can actually sit for a meal, today.

From where she's sitting, Emma can make out Smee hunched over at a table inside the kitchen, with August, Cheshire and Will Scarlett bracketing him. She can see the glasses on the table— though it seems like only Smee's has been touched, the others are talking in hushed, low tones and Smee's staring at his glass. August looks up, and nods when he meets her eyes, continuing his conversation. He's not an asshole most of the time, she decides, even if she'd never actually say that to him outright. She sees Smee scrub his face, and then her view is blocked as Tiana comes bustling out of the kitchen, plates in hand, and over to where Naveen's seated the Darlings.

The Darling siblings are sitting two tables over from her, and they look extremely subdued— clearly they've been filled in, despite their absence the previous day. There's none of their usual chaos when they're at a table, they just wordlessly, methodically, decimate the plates set before them. They're a young lot— their oldest is barely in her twenties— odd ones out in the rest of the passengers, but they're energetic and they've always been nice, if a little self-involved. But then those are usually the easiest kind of people to deal with.

She turns to see the Knights seated at the counter. They're beside each other, and Lance nudges Jeff to point this or that and to make comments, but overall its a very sober affair, far from their everyday banter. One of them works in travel, if Emma remembers, and this trip was supposed to be a bonus for them, a long awaited, long-planned break. Suddenly, she isn't very hungry anymore.

Remy refills her coffee cup just as Emma is making to get up, and she shoots him a grateful look, the cup already to her lips. He just shakes his head fondly, and then bustles on to take orders. The cup is empty again in seconds, and Emma carries her plate and cup back inside to the washer, and goes on to small staircase through the kitchens and through the winding passages, to the biggest hall belowdeck.

This hall doesn't get used until the passengers request it; which means the big bash at the end of the week, the one for the wedding anniversary, will take place here. But as of now, it's half-lit, and they haven't even hooked up the sound system, it's just Red's iPod connected to speakers, and Granny is standing by it, her back to the door. Paige and Emma, and Tink and Red, and Ariel are the only ones here, warming up— Granny likes rehearsals in batches until they've worked out the kinks and are ready to "put it all together", and this way some of them are always about and within easy beckoning distance for Milah and any of her passenger-pacifying errands, which is also part of their job-description.

This new dance they're working on involves lifts, too many for Emma's liking. Especially because Red has a talent both for overbalancing and landing like a cat— and only when practicing with Emma— which means Emma is the only one left struggling to her feet before they've got the hang of it. And Red's shit-eating grin every single time definitely doesn't help.

"Will you stop fucking squirming for a minute?"

"I don't want you to drop me."

"Red." It's through entirely clenched teeth, and Red starts laughing, so shaking, and predictably, Granny calls a stop just as Emma tumbles down to the mat, Red rolling back to her feet before Emma's even fallen properly. Granny's just building up a good head of steam to yell at both of them, when the door is pushed open.

Milah enters, heading straight to Granny, who rolls her eyes but allows herself to be led by the elbow. Regina Mills, hot on the heels of Milah, enters the room with a, "— but, will you just…" and falls silent at the audience, her eyes unerringly finding Emma, who is still lying on the floor. Emma watches the smirk stretch her lips and decides to give up for the day.

"Ladies, a minute," Milah says and Granny snorts, as Paige and Red share knowing glances.

"I'm telling you, let go of this fool's errand." Granny says, turning, and for the first time notices Regina. Her spine straightens, and she pushes her glasses up, her nose and says, "What is Ms Mills doing here?"

"Never mind what Ms Mills is doing here, Eugenia. If I could just…" she looks around the room until she finds Emma, clearly considers whether to enquire regarding her horizontal form, and then drags herself back to the subject— "… borrow Ms Swan for a bit." It is meant as a question, she's sure, but Milah has never learnt the knack of those, specially the bit where your voice is supposed to curve higher in inquiry.

Granny gives Emma a Look and Emma rolls to her feet to follow Milah, who is already striding off, Ms Mills by her side. She hears Granny call Ariel to tell her to continue without her, "... and I'll send someone to take Emma's place, no slacking off."

They walk to the deck and then turn to head over to the purser's office, where Granny keeps the sign-in sheets for the workers, and that houses the surveillance of their common areas. "Actually," Milah says, pausing, "Why don't the two of you head to Hook's—" she pauses, closes her eyes and takes a breath before continuing, "— the Captain's office, and I'll join you there?"

She tries, she really does, but Emma can find no way to refuse outright, which means that soon Emma is leading Regina through one of the inside passages to the cabin.

Regina follows wordlessly, until they're both standing, staring awkwardly at the air around each other, feeling like guests left alone at someone else's house. After ten minutes and no Milah, Emma cannot stand it anymore.

"So…" Emma tries. It is her job. "Is this something I could help you with, Ms Mills?"

The smile is slightly less condescending than normal, just a smidgen, but Regina doesn't do anything beyond shaking her head.

"Alright."

Regina's phone begins to ring just then, and her brows furrow on seeing the screen. "Excuse me, I have to take this," she says. She pushes open the door, and Milah steps in. Regina walks out, as Milah goes to the desk to lay out the laptop and the sheaf of papers she is carrying.

"Where's—?" She says, and as Emma prepares to launch into an explanation, she waves it away with a hand. "She's coming back, right?" At Emma's nod, she continues. "She wants to help us, and I think I am going to let her."

"Us?"

"With the investigation." Milah supplies.

" _Us?_ " Emma repeats.

"Weren't you training to be a cop?" Milah asks.

"Yes, but I dropped out. To be a dancer on a ship." Emma is not proud of the whining in her tone, but, well.

"You want to find out who's responsible, don't you?"

"That's not the part I'm having trouble with. It's _her_."

"If she's helping, she'll be easier to keep an eye on." Milah says, and Emma just stares at at Milah. She glances away for a second, but continues relentlessly. "Look, we won't have much by way of video, but some people we will be able to rule out. Others we have no option but to interview— don't you agree it's best if we let Ms Mills help?" Emma's stomach sinks; the arrangement does makes a horrible, entrapping sort of sense.

"Fine," she says, "I guess you'll want to be there for the actual interviewing?"

Milah nods, just as Regina knocks sharply and slips into the room.

"Ah, Ms Mills. You're to cooperate with Ms Swan here. She will go through the records we have before we move on to the interviews, will you be alright with providing any information you come across to her?" Regina glances between the two of them before settling on Milah and nodding.

"And if you still want me to have credibility among the passengers it will be best if I'm not seen talking with you too often," and they cannot underestimate this woman for a single second, can they?

Milah just inclines her head, and Regina seems to decide that is her cue. "I suppose I shall see you once you have trawled through this evidence?" she asks.

"You are welcome to lend a hand, you know," and Regina just allows her lips to form their usual condescending curve, so Emma continues. "Or, show up here in the evening and we can review what we have."

"Today evening it is, then," she says, before taking her leave.

"And it's best if you don't do this with your friends, we'd like this to remain objective, right?" Milah says, once she has Emma's attention again, before leaving the cabin herself.

Right. They are to use Hook's office as a base of operations, to find his killer. That's just great.


	4. Chapter 4

"Regina, dear, how are you?" Cora's voice is as saccharine as always, even through the phone, and Regina's teeth twinge painfully.

"Mother." Regina walks up to the railing to lean against it, her eyes dropping to the water. The sun has risen now, and the reflection is—

"When are you going to give up this little flight of fancy and come back to your husband? I hardly think divorce papers are the solution you and Leo were looking for."

"I don't know, mother, from here it feels extremely suitable. Perhaps you and daddy should have given it a try, instead of waiting for his heart attack." This is not even an opening of hostilities at this point, merely going through the motions of a conversation with Cora.

Who tuts. "So dramatic, as always. I don't know how you come by it."

Regina rolls her eyes, trying not to hide her face in her palm. "Wasn't sending Zelena along enough to monitor me? Or are her reports not regular enough for you?"

"Your words wound, darling. I…" and Regina finds she is in no mood to go through all this over and over again.

"…yes, I'm sure. Now was there something you wanted from me? Because I have something I really must attend to, here." And then she bites her lip in immediate regret— interrupting is one of the big crimes of conversation with Cora. The content of the words is only secondary. As long as they're couched in manner, she remains civil. Well, her version of it, anyway. This, though—

"I thought this was supposed to be a vacation, darling. Or were you talking about ogling pool boys?" The pause, and then, "I suppose it's a step up from the one who worked in our stable."

There's a rush of blood to her ears, and even then she can't help but admire the scalpel-precision of the cut. She hers herself say, "Goodbye, mother," through numb lips. Hanging up grants her almost no satisfaction, and she closes her eyes, breathing in the salt spray, and counting down. This is fine, she's on a cruise she's run away if all she has to show for it is a few taunts, she— she deliberately, slowly, unclenches her fingers from the railing, and walks back to the cabin.

"… best if we let Ms Mills help?" she hears when she presses an ear to the door, a habit born of living first with her mother, then with her husband, but there is no use dwelling on that— clearly the formal phrasing means the woman is being cautious, so Regina knocks before entering the cabin. Working with Emma Swan isn't what she had in mind, exactly, but it is where most of the information will pass and she will take it.

* * *

Regina returns to her room to change before she goes looking for Mal who is, predictably, sunbathing on one of the deck chairs laid out near the pool. Mal waves her martini when she spots her, and signals to a passing server as Regina moves closer. "Any luck?"

Regina allows herself a small smile, and Mal sits up. "What's wrong? Did Cora call?"

She nods, and Mal grimaces, and squeezes her arm in sympathy. Mal has been one of the first physically affectionate people she had met, and it had been… an adjustment, in the beginning. Not counting Cora's controlling talons, of course, and those really oughtn't be— Regina shakes her head as Mal says, "You know it was only a matter of time since you sent the divorce papers. I'm surprised it took so long."

"I— you're right." She sighs and accepts the drink that is handed to her, downing half of it in a swallow. "You're right." She moves to the chair beside Mal's and then begins to rummage in her bag for her own sunglasses.

There are others are out as well, it is still a while before the heat will get unbearable. Not all on this ship are awake before noon, but those that do usually find their way outside, to bask in the sun. Robin and his kid, for instance, are in the pool, and Philip and Rory sit at the edge, dangling their feet in the water and chatting with one of the lifeguards, a striking Asian woman.

"Did you find out the history with Gold and Hook?" Mal asks, and Regina turns her attention back.

"No, most of the time went into convincing her, and apparently I have to work with the Swan girl on this."

Mal slips her shades down with a finger, regarding Regina with an amused look.

"What?"

Mal lifts an elegant shoulder, wordless.

"Oh, shut up. Milah seems to think she has some sort of experience with this. They're going to "go over evidence" before they get back to me. There were some cameras, but they aren't very promising."

"Hmm." Mal puts her shades back, turning away again.

They retire for lunch when it starts to overheat, after which they walk back to their cabins, to turn in until the heat's lessened. They run into Cru and Ursula who seem to just be emerging for the day. Cru barely notices them over the narration of her own horror story of service at a restaurant and meat that wasn't rare enough. Even though she sent it back a total of six times. Ursula smiles at them while still managing to appear completely engrossed in Cru's words.

Evening comes soon enough, and Regina is tapping on the captain's cabin-door before Ms Swan's voice calls her to enter.

"Hey," she says, looking up from the laptop on the desk. "Milah will be here in a minute, she wanted to talk motives before she starts her interviewing."

"What about the videos?" She hadn't really thought it would be that easy, but—

"Nothing directly related," Ms Swan starts. "The place where Hook was pushed off has multiple exits with no surveillance, but once I go over the footage with a fine tooth comb, we'll have some people we can conclusively rule out."

Regina nods, considering. "What about the crew, will you be questioning them as well? They are much more likely to have motive. They're the ones who knew him."

Ms Swan smiles, but it is brittle. "Milah will be conducting a thorough investigation, you needn't worry ma'am."

Which doesn't exactly answer the question but comes close enough— she supposes she will have to see.

"What about Gold, what's the story there?"

Swan shoots her a quick and assessing look, as Regina moves to take a seat on the counter to the side. "I'm not sure if I'm in a position to answer that."

"They have some kind of history, that much is obvious. I believe we've you've been instructed to work with me, Ms Swan."

"Sure, yes, but this isn't really related to—"

"Of course it is. The man said Hook deserved what he got."

"That might be true, but I will not—" Crew-loyalty. It isn't like Regina hasn't expected this, but this strong-jawed defiance is obviously born out of loyalty of a more personal kind.

"Really, Ms Swan, I don't think this attempt to protect whomever you're protecting will is going to work, so why don't you just— ."

"Look, Ms Mills, I am a crew member, but I— "

"I don't give a damn about—"

Milah walks in just then, and Regina notices how Swan's shoulders slump at once. Milah looks inquisitively at them, and Swan says, her tone even, "Ms Mills wanted to know about the history between Mr Gold and Hook."

Milah collapses into one of the chairs before she starts speaking. "Mr Gold and I used to date. It didn't work out. I dated Hook after that, Mr Gold didn't like it." Succinct. Regina can't help but feel respect for this woman, especially with the utter disdain dripping off the name.

And Swan's stance makes much more sense now. "Ah. Is it not strange, then, that Mr Gold decided to book a cruise on this ship?" Regina asks.

Milah shakes her head. "Hook was a last-minute change, actually, and I personally think Mr Gold wanted to flaunt his Belle." She points at herself, while looking at the ceiling, and in a strange moment, Regina shares an amused look with Ms Swan.

"Is there any way he could have known about Killian?" Swan asks, and then Milah's eyes snap to her, all business.

"That is… an interesting question. I will have to make some calls."

"And you're sure he still has motive, even after all this time?" Regina asks.

"He is a definite grudge-holder." Milah says, and Swan nods.

"But I'm not sure we have enough to talk to him, yet," she adds.

"Or more precisely, you don't think I should talk to him." Milah fires back. Swan opens her mouth, clearly to deny it, and then nods.

"This is where I come in, then?" The two turn to look at her, and then to each other.

It's Ms Swan who replies. "That might just work."

* * *

 **A/N:** Hey. I'd love to hear what you guys thought.


	5. Chapter 5

"There's one other thing, before you leave," Milah says. "Whale's going to examine the… body. He volunteered; apparently it's always been one of his interests." Her face twists, "At any rate, he promises he knows what he's doing."

Emma turns to Regina, who barely represses a shudder before saying, "Is that really necessary? He was pushed, wasn't he?"

"There might be evidence on the body— of a struggle. It's not very promising, but we shouldn't miss something just because we refused to look."

"Okay. So I'll talk to Belle, you carry out your own enquiries," Regina says, standing up. "I shall come to you if I find something that seems to lead anywhere."

Milah waits until the door closes behind Regina, before she moves to stand in front of the desk. "You know, some of the girls didn't really… get along with him."

Emma looks studiously at her laptop screen.

"We can't just ignore that."

Emma meets Milah's eyes. "Surely you're not— The girls wouldn't— you know this is unnecessary."

"It's much more likely that it was done by someone who knew him." Milah says, crossing her arms. "Statistically."

Emma scoffs. "Don't give me that. If it was one of ours, why now? Why not where they could run?"

"I'm not saying it's logical, Emma, just that we can't afford to miss anything."

"Go on, talk to them. I bet Ms Mills would love to help you with that, she was asking me how we planned on interrogating my friends."

"Emma, please."

She sighs. "So you want me to question my own friends, because they would suspect if you were doing it but they actually trust that I wouldn't do anything like that."

Milah grimaces. "You don't have to put it like that."

Emma drags a hand down her face, closing the laptop with the other. "Fine. But I'll do it my way, I don't want you interfering or coming in with your damn insinuations. Leave it to me, I'll find out."

"That's all I ask."

Milah leaves, and Emma rubs her eyes tiredly. The surveillance feeds are going to be of no use, she's almost sure, apart from ruling out some people. Given the total number of people on the ship, though… on the other hand she cannot in good conscience ignore them. Sighing, she connects her laptop and opens the first surveillance video.

* * *

The day has passed by around her, when she looks up it is dark. She gets up, stretches and hears her spine crack, and shuts off the laptop. The Gold lead isn't particularly promising, she thinks as she locks the cabin behind her, what with him proclaiming his hatred in front of everyone. Hardly the action of someone with a guilty conscience. The man is known to have a notoriously dramatic streak; she didn't know Milah when the whole thing went down, but Granny did, and Red's a terrible gossip, so Emma might as well have been there herself. The speech with Milah "tearing out his beating heart from his chest" particularly stands out in her memory, with dramatic mimicry on one particular occasion that even reduced Milah to helpless giggles.

A game of poker is in full swing as she passes by the casino area, and Cheshire is running a Blackjack in the vicinity. Ella, Thomas and Mary Margaret sit with David at the poker table, laughing, while he glares at his cards. She turns towards the deck, which is where most of the people will be concentrated, now that the sun has set. Warm air rushes to greet her as she emerges out outside, and she almost runs into Eric. He takes a step back in time just to avoid her and manages not to drop the towels he's carrying.

"Sorry," she says, and he smiles at her.

"No worries. Hey, actually, Emma,I wanted to—" A furiously beckoning Sebastien appears in their line of sight just then, and he grimaces at her as he hurries away.

The pool is very loud at the moment, a game of some kind on between the Darling siblings, and Robin, who has Roland sitting on her shoulders and giggling uncontrollably. They've broken into two teams and a ball that keeps flying out of the pool and threatening to hit someone. Sebastien looks just about ready to blow a fuse as he takes the towels from Eric and refills the empty basket to his side. Then he moves on to tell yell at Flounder. Eric catches her eye and and they smile.

She turns away from the pool, towards the open-air bar and starts to look for Red. Instead, she spots Gold deep in conversation with the Deville woman at one of the tables. It's not like they're going to be discussing anything suspicious out here, if they even have anything suspicious. She can't go around suspecting anyone she wants, she tries to convince herself, moving towards one of the corner tables.

Regina, as per usual, is huddled together with Mal, who winks at her as she walks past. Emma ignores them to lean casually against the table, fiddling with one of the folded napkins and resisting an urge to whistle carelessly. If she just turns, a tiny bit, and—

"… right here until they apprehend whomever's responsible. I called it nonsense, of course. Darling, I said, look outside the porthole. We're moving. And she said they could take us round in circles and nobody would find out. How terribly dramatic."

Gold squints at her face until he's satisfied with it, and then leans even closer. "Indeed? And the Millses—"

But now she drops her voice, and Emma can't understand anything further. It would be extremely conspicuous of her to move closer, so she just makes her way to the bar, in the process walking into August.

"You're invest—vesti—thingy?" He demands, by way of greeting.

She looks around as she shushes him, grateful that nobody is within hearing range. The closest person is Walsh, who looks more drunk than August, and Alice serving at the bar, who makes a face at her.

"Who told you? And…" Emma grabs his arm. "Not here. Let's…" She begins leading him, staggering, to his own cabin. "How drunk are you, anyway?" she mutters, contemplating the staircase in front of her. She has options, she thinks, there is a ramp halfway across the ship. And the set of elevators which are bound to be seeing traffic right now. She heaves a sigh and his arm over her shoulders, and sets off.

"Not enough," he says, almost losing his balance. "He realllly loved rum, y'know? I told him he shoul' expa— expen— exp— try… things. He nev' lisn'd to me, an' I coul' never stann the shtuff."

"Is that right?" She really likes the illusion of comfortable conversations that some drunk people offer, she considers, and then almost loses her balance as August stumbles. "Easy, there…"

"Jus' tol' him yest'day…" He says, as she rights them, and they make it to the wall of the landing, and then she looks carefully at the longer patch of stairs below them, with second thoughts. "I tol' him."

Though climbing back up isn't a real option either now, is it. August begins to shake his head very determinedly, and Emma doesn't think about how the drunk guy wants to take the safer decision, until he says, "No, I tol' her, I did, I said, I'd say—" He shakes his head again. "Smee, an' me…" he says. Then pauses. "Smeeeeeee an'" he begins to giggle.

She ignores him, and takes a brave step towards the stairs, and then almost sags in relief when she hears Red's "Hey, idiot!"

"Have a deathwish, do we?" She says, as she comes to August's other side and puts an arm around his waist.

"Shit. How'd you even know to show up?" Emma says, as Red begins to lead them all downstairs.

"I saw you two leaving, and I was sure you were going to do something like try to lead a drunk guy twice your weight down the stairs, so I think to myself, Self, are we really going to miss watching Emma do something monumentally stupid?" She turns her head, and changes the pitch of her voice. "No, Self, and might I mention we look amazingly hot today?" And then back again, "Why, thank you, Self, I—"

Allowed to continue, Red would do this the whole way to the guy's room, so Emma is glad when August interrupts her. "Dija' know she's— Emma's inveshh-ting?"

"Yeah, about that," Emma turns to Red, "Whose been telling the passengers?"

"Does he really count?" Red looks at him sagged between them.

"I don't think it's just him," she says.

"We know Regina knows," Red says slowly. "And she's gotta have told Maleficent."

"And maybe her sister," Emma adds, and Red nods, just as they reach August's cabin.

"We should probably—" Red says as Emma pushes the door open and they drag him inside.

"Whoops, there we go." He drops onto his bed in a heap, and then spends a minute arranging his limbs to his liking.

"Thanshh Emma. Red. You'll— you— you'll— tomor'w— I'll— righ'?"

Red nods seriously at him. "Sure, bud. You just sleep it off."

Emma's opening various closets behind them until she finds a glass, and then she fills it with water, handing it to him. He drains it without a word, and they repeat the process. He's asleep by the time she fills the third glass. She leaves it by his table, and Red shuts the door behind them.

"I forget he's not crew, sometimes," Red says quietly, as they start on their way back to the deck.

He travels so often, and it's usually with this crew, and— "I know what you mean. Specially when he keeps pace with with Smee and Scarlett's rum through the entire day." Red raises an eyebrow.

"Hook—" Red says, after a minute of quiet stopping in her tracks. The exact same time that Emma begins, "Red, there's something—"

They both stop, and then laugh nervously. "Go ahead," Emma says.

"No, no. You say it," and then, "Mine isn't that important."

Emma sighs. "Milah wants to find out whoever is responsible."

"Yeah, I mean—"

"No, Red. _Whoever_."

Red smiles humourlessly. "I see."

"I can't—"

"Don't worry, I get it." Red says, gripping Emma's shoulder. "I'll talk to the others."

"Don't— don't _tell_ them—"

"I won't. We'll take care of it." They begin to walk again.

"Thanks, Red," Emma adds, just as they reach the open air.

"Anytime."


	6. Chapter 6

Regina watches Ms Swan leave arm-in-arm with Mr Booth, and barely stops her lip curling in distaste. They disappear, and then Regina feels Mal's eyes on her.

Deliberately turning away, she instead focuses on the crowd gathered there, and the particularly somber tone of the evening. The poker table, swimming pool and bar are open, but no other "group" activities have been scheduled— and it doesn't look like they would have been availed of, not with the general mood. She sees Aurora and Philip still with out that pool girl from this morning. Her hair now out of a swimming cap and tied in a long, low ponytail— Regina turns to Mal to see if she's noticed.

Mal's still staring at her in amusement, though, and— First Cora, then Milah and that Swan woman, now _this_ — Regina feels the frayed edges of her temper snap. She gets up, and Mal's expression immediately gives way to concern.

"I'll— I'll find you, alright?" she says, quietly. She does not want to provoke a fight, not here.

Not with Mal.

The concern remains, but Mal looks more at ease. "I will remain here," she says, catching and squeezing her hand. Regina nods, and hurries to put some distance between them. She glances around the deck looking for a quiet spot.

Marian sits with her son, talking to the Knights on a table in a corner, near a railing. The child is playing with an iPad on the table. She looks around and notices Robin engaged in a game of darts on a makeshift dartboard hung on one of the walls. He plays with one of the crew, a scruffy blond man who looks like he's winning. The table beside them is occupied only by Fred, who seems to have fallen asleep. And behind him, there's a darkened corner and a railing, and— nobody.

She speeds up her steps, and is almost bowled over by Red rushing from her conversation with the other dancers. There's a "Sorry, so sorry!" tossed back, and she's gone before Regina has even registered…

She turns to the spot she'd found, and Ursula and Cru have occupied it now— seemingly glued together at the lips.

Regina resignedly turns to make her way to her room.

Only to have her arm taken, and led over to one of the busiest parts of the deck, two tables have been joined together, and people sitting around them, all trying to talk over each other.

"Let me go," she hisses at Zelena, to no avail, and suddenly they're at one of the big tables in the middle, one commandeered by Mary Margaret and her group— well, except Fred, of course. She's sitting between Zelena, who is emanating smugness to her left, and Ella.

When she deigns to listen, Kathryn is saying, "Yes, my father said the Darlings' parents had some deals with Hook that fell through. There's lots of history there. Apparently he was responsible for them going bankrupt."

Ella nods, "It was rumoured to be some kind of amusement part scheme he wanted to build, I think?"

Kathryn continues, "But they landed on their feet, didn't they. And now they send their kids on a cruise with the same man? Something is…"

"… quite fishy, yes," Zelena says, and everyone pauses to consider the implications.

Mary Margaret says, "It _is_ strange, but when we booked this trip for all of us, the Captain was supposed to some man who went by 'Blackbeard'. I remember, because," she looks at David, who grins back, "we joked about it."

"That… is true, I remember that." Regina says. "And that would explain why there people who dislike him so, onboard."

"… like Mr. Gold, for instance," Ella says. " I heard there was a woman involved, who got between them. He broke up Gold's family." Regina sees Milah rolling her eyes in her mind, and risks a glance at her sister.

Zelena's looking directly at her, making no effort to hide it. She realizes there is something she was supposed to have… figured out, which is why she was dragged out here.

And then, with horrible certainty, she just knows.

She has no proof, not the slightest scent of a fact that would support this hypothesis— well, not yet, anyway— but the way her sister is _staring_ — there is nothing else that would make so much sense. She grabs Zelena by the elbow in return, bites out, "Would you excuse me and my dear sister for a moment."

They nod, and Regina leads her straight to her own room without a word passing between them.

Zelena ambles beside her wordlessly, and then frees herself when they reach her room to rummage about for the bottle of whiskey she knows Regina keeps.

Regina sets her palms on the counter, and stares at them as she speaks. "Tell me it isn't true."

Zelena pours two glasses, and slides one towards Regina. "I'm sure I don't have the slightest—"

The customary denial. "Of course. Now _tell me_."

Zelena lifts the glass to her lips, grasping the bottle in her other hand and turning towards the couch in the corner of the room. She drops down, curling her legs underneath herself after she places the bottle carefully on the floor— and only then does she answer. "She was going to tell you, but you hung up on her. That's why she called today, after I—"

"After you told her I was helping them. What, you weren't enough, to keep an eye on me?" Regina finally looks up.

"He owed her some sort of favour, and I'm… well, you know she can't trust anyone she's not paying." Zelena shrugs, their eyes meeting in understanding. People owe a wide variety of favours to their mother, most of them for less than legal reasons. "Apparently he jumped at the chance to be free of that owed debt."

"Who wouldn't be," Regina mutters as she picks the glass up, and moves towards her sister.

"You won't believe if I say I didn't know," Zelena grimaces, and takes another sip. "And if I were to say something insipid like 'I'm on your side',—"

They both roll their eyes in perfect harmony, and then Regina says, "We're both above that, dear."

"Quite." Zelena says. "And then mother told _me_ to do the honours. And what, I was left wondering, would be the best way to tell my sweet little sister that she had _motive_ to commit the murder she's pushed her way into investigating?" It is the relish in her tone that really sells it. Zelena is dramatic, yes, and unnecessarily so. But she does not lie or exaggerate where there is no need— both of them are equally predisposed to wielding truths, like their mother.

"But I didn't _know_ ," Regina does not say, because she knows exactly what it will look like. Instead, she _clinks_ her glass against Zelena's and downs it in a single, fluid movement before perching on the other edge of the couch. "If I tell them now…" she begins, and then pauses.

Zelena stares at her for a moment, then realizes Regina has no intention of continuing. "There's always the possibility they won't figure out the connection if you don't tell them."

"But it will look a lot worse if they find out on their own." Regina finishes, which is the long and short of it. "How obvious is mother's trail to Hook, can you find that out?"

Zelena nods, then says, "Do you want her to know I'm helping you?"

"Avoid it unless there is no other way. That will take longer, I know." Regina says, and leans back, her glass held loosely in her fingers.

Zelena neatly takes it, refilling both their glasses and handing Regina's back, and they drink in somewhat companionable silence. Of course, her sister cannot let it lie there.

"What will you do, then?" she murmurs, as she hands Regina her glass back a third time.

"Kick you out of my room, first of all," Regina says, but makes no such movement. Zelena rolls her eyes, though, and gets to her feet. She puts the bottle back in the cabinet, and wordlessly leaves her glass on the counter, rinsed, before she pads out, and Regina's eyebrows rise to her hairline.

Cora's connection to Hook is undoubtedly a surprise, but today's biggest one is the sudden appearance of Zelena's conscience.


End file.
